Yesterday was the day for new town hall councils to be confirmed. Councillors from winning and losing parties were sworn in, and there were investitures for mayors. As with the Balearic parliament, where there is an investiture for the government's president, the same procedure applies to mayors. A key aspect of the various pacts that have been created since the elections last month has been to ensure investitures.
The pact process isn't always successful in this regard. A case in point yesterday was in Soller. Carlos Simarro of the Partido Popular received the investiture but without the backing of the preferred partner, El Pi. The PP will govern Soller town hall with a minority.
The largest of Majorca's 53 municipalities, Palma, naturally attracted the highest level of interest. The mayoral "vara" (rod, baton), which José Hila had handed to Antoni Noguera of Més some two years ago under an agreement to share the post of mayor, was returned to him yesterday. PSOE's gains at the election and the losses suffered by the two other parties of the left-wing pact guaranteed that Hila would be mayor for the full four years this time. On Monday, Hila will announce who among PSOE's councillors will have which responsibilities. Those for Més and Podemos have already been agreed.
In Majorca's second largest municipality, Calvia, PSOE were one short of gaining a majority in their own right. Alfonso Rodríguez continues as mayor. A pact with Podemos and Més (who had formed their own pre-election alliance) will see these other parties have responsibilities for, among other areas, the environment and animal welfare.
Among other mayors who are to have a second term is Virgilio Moreno, who was confirmed as PSOE's mayor of Inca; PSOE and Més have formed a pact to run the town hall. Katia Rouarch of El Pi in Andratx is another who will be continuing. She is just one of ten women who are now mayors. Others include Bàrbara Rabassa of PSOE in Alcudia and Maria Pons of the PP in Santanyi.
